As the aftermath of the Virginia Tech tragedy made its way through virtually every college and university in North America, the University of Pittsburgh already had a clear goal in mind: implement a text-messaging based service capable of reaching every student, faculty, and staff member with a cell phone or messaging-capable device within one or two minutes of a campus emergency.  The solution had to be sufficiently scalable to reach many individuals while sending messages through quickly and reliably.  In addition, the solution needed to provide service at each of the Universitys five western Pennsylvania campuses.
The main Pittsburgh campus comprises more than 115 buildings located on 100-plus acres in an urban campus setting.  With more than 8,000 faculty and staff and some 25,000 students at this campus alone, the problem of getting the word out about a campus safety issue proved a daunting challenge.  It is impossible to know which members of the community are in which locations at any given time or even if they are on campus at all.  Encouraging individuals to find a safe location, while at the same time encouraging others to remain at home or elsewhere, were key requirements of any solution.

Ultimately, it was decided to take advantage of the proliferation of personal cell phones and messaging devices and implement a multi-modal messaging-based service.  In addition, the system needed to be an opt-in solution since, in many cases, messages would be sent to personal communications devices such as cell phones and PDAs. 

The underlying service was part of the challenge and the decision about which of many available services to use was critical to the success of the project.  Part of the implementation included designing an easy-to-use self- service system to enable students, faculty, and staff to sign up for the service.  To do this, the University leveraged two central computing services:  its Web portal and its central directory service.

Individuals from any campus sign up for the service on the Universitys Web portal (known as my.pitt.edu).  Clicking the Emergency Notification button brings up a page with the persons information already filled in from the Central Directory Service.  Up to three telephone numbers can be listed for text and/or voice messages.  Once the registration is completed, an automated data feed provides the subscription information to Verizon Business.  The user can click a button to test the system to be sure messages are received at the numbers provided.
A natural concern about subscribing to a messaging services is the possibility that the subscriber could receive unwanted non-emergency communications.  In addition to implementing technologies, the University implemented procedures requiring senior administrative approval for any messages to be issued.  The process in place ensures that only true emergency messages are issued, but also provides assurance that approvals will be granted quickly and not delay the prompt delivery of critical information.  

Once approved, the designated public safety official uses a secure Web-based interface provided by Verizon Business to select the campus to receive the alert and then send the appropriate message.  As the University prepared to debut the system, an actual bomb threat superseded a planned test.  The system was immediately put into action and delivered the required email, voice, and text messages to subscribers.  

Verizon Notification Services is a reliable, easy-to-use system  one that gained an early reputation for being limited to true emergency communications, increasing its adoption rate within the community.

After careful consideration, the University decided to choose an established, reputable service provider with a proven reputation for reliable service.  In addition, the ability to send messages simultaneously through email, voice messages, and text messages (SMS format) was a key criterion.  The system had to cover as many avenues for communication as possible.  

A number of service providers offer text-messaging capabilities, but rely on telephone service carriers to receive email messages that are then converted by the carrier into SMS.  The University required that the selected provider have the capability to issue text messages directly in SMS format to the various carriers, eliminating potential delays in reaching subscribers.  Early tests using email-to-SMS conversion uncovered the potential for delayed message delivery, as well the possibility of trapped messages  communications sent to large numbers of users that are often viewed as spam or unwanted solicitations.  

University public safety officials are directly responsible for issuing notifications, not information technology staff.  The intuitive graphical user interface makes the service easy-to-use and training for administrative and security personnel has been quick and painless.  Procedures were developed for issuing notices according to likely scenarios, along with supporting processes and procedures to guide the staff involved.  Messages can be issued within one or two minutes of identifying a situation.

One of the keys of the Verizon Notification Service is its ability to issue messages and confirm delivery.  For voice messages, the system records when a call is answered and will retry a specified number of times.  Statistics can be viewed online and the early tests showed that 99.8% of all messages were delivered within five minutes of issuance.

Yes

Yes

The most significant new advantage that the ENS system affords is the ability to positively communicate emergency notices to as many members of the University community as possible in a very short amount of time.  Even assuming that the University doesn't achieve its goal of 100% participation, the likelihood that individuals signed up for the service will be able to relay the message to classmates and colleagues remains very high.  The most difficult aspect of designing any type of emergency notification service at even a small institution is the lack of a campus-wide public address or similar system.  The cost of implementing such a service compared to that of implementing a service such as Verizon Notification Service in conjunction with the my.pitt.edu Web portal is extrememly high.

The proliferation of cell phones and other portable devices capable of voice and text-based communications makes this type of service an obvious choice.  Less obvious, but far more important from the University's perspective was the implementation of a highly-available, highly reliable notification service.  Single points of failure are simply not tolerable in a situation where many lives may be at stake.  

The Emergency Notification Service is part of the University's overall strategy for emergency communications for its students, faculty, and staff.  In the event of an emergency, a combination of methods will be used to ensure that the message reaches all who need the information.

Since implementation of the Emergency Notification System, the system has been used four times to communicate bomb threats.  Fortunately, each of these threats turned out to be hoaxes and no member of the community was in serious danger.  It is the University's hope that such a situation will never occur and that no one ever need benefit from the implementation of this system.

This project has several exceptional aspects including the very short period of time needed to send messages via email, text, and telephone calls to each of the subscribers. In addition, the system is fully integrated with the Universitys Web portal AND central directory service, eliminating the need to advertise a separate Web sign-up link, manage an additional set of passwords, or have users provide detailed personal information.  Finally, the service includes a straightforward, secure, and easy-to-use interface that allows the Universitys public safety officials to issue alerts by following predefined scenarios within the system.  Alerts are issued to the appropriate campus audience.  

In implementing the service, the University had planned a test to ensure full functionality, but a real bomb threat occurred before the test was held.  Statistics showed a 99.8% success rate in message delivery within five minutes of issuing the alert.  The system features the ability to record successful delivery of voice messages and will permit the system to dial numbers in sequence, as necessary, to be sure the intended recipient received the message.  Fortunately, the bomb threat was a hoax, but we were able to prove early on that the service was indeed exceptional.
All University users must interact with the my.pitt.edu Web portal in order to receive bills or grade reports, post grades, access Web-based email services, or access benefits information.  Therefore, the portal was the most logical place to link to the Emergency Notification System signup page.  The page already shows the users name and other information obtained from Central Directory Service:  the user need only enter up to three telephone numbers or e-mail addresses and check boxes to indicate a preference for delivery via voice, text or e-mail.  The intent was to make it extremely easy to enroll or change numbers later on.  This information is passed to the service provider in real time, ensuring that changes take effect immediately. 

Finally, the combination of an easy to use Web interface and streamlined processes for reviewing and approving proposed announcements ensure that when a need for an announcement has been identified, there is as little delay as possible in releasing the information so that recipients can take appropriate action.  The choice of providers, its implementation, and its integration as part of the Universitys overall strategy for emergency communication make the service truly exceptional and a model for success.

The most significant new advantage that the ENS system affords is the ability to positively communicate emergency notices to as many members of the University community as possible in a very short amount of time.  Even assuming that the University doesn't achieve its goal of 100% participation, the likelihood that individuals signed up for the service will be able to relay the message to classmates and colleagues remains very high.  The most difficult aspect of designing any type of emergency notification service at even a small institution is the lack of a campus-wide public address or similar system.  Implementing a campus-wide public address system is prohibitive in terms of cost and complexity.  By comparison, Verizon Notification Service is easy to deploy, cost effective, and easy to integrate with the University Web portal.

The proliferation of cell phones and other portable devices capable of voice and text-based communications makes this type of service an obvious choice.  Less obvious, but far more important from the University's perspective was the implementation of a highly-available, highly reliable network-based notification service.  Single points of failure are simply not tolerable in a situation where many lives may be at stake.  

The Emergency Notification System has been used four times to communicate bomb threats.  Each time, the University has achieved extremely high levels of message delivery.  As subscription levels have increased, the high delivery rate has been sustained.  Follow-up reviews have consistently shown that when a message wasnt delivered, the root cause was an error in the telephone number entered by the user.  Fortunately, each of the four threats turned out to be hoaxes and no member of the community was in serious danger.  It is the University's hope that such a situation will never occur and that no one ever need benefit from the implementation of this system.

Achieved

Low-end text messaging services are easy to implement and have been put in place at a large number of institutions.  The difficulty with some of these implementations is that they include non-emergency communications or message delivery relies on low-priority message handling by cellular service providers.  Providers have volume limits for messages that help prevent their users from receiving text-based spam messages.  The efforts of Verizon Business to work with cellular carriers to handle these messages on a high-priority basis is part of the success of the system.  

In addition, many alert notification services are either premises-based or use a single form of message delivery.  Verizon Notification Service is network-based, eliminating single points-of-failure and lack of scalability common with solutions located at the organizations premises.  By delivering messages in various formats, high rates of message delivery can be achieved, maximizing the value of the system in terms of keeping key stakeholders connected and informed.

It is essential to note, however, that the system is voluntary and users will not sign up for the service if they feel that they will receive unwanted messages.  The University community has been repeatedly assured that only true emergency messages will be sent and key approvals are required.

Because the system is voluntary, it is also critical to make the signup process as easy as possible.  The University chose to use the my.pitt.edu Web portal because this service delivers access to all central online services at the University.  Users log in, click the button to sign up for the Emergency Notification Service, and enter up to three voice or cell phone numbers. Subscribers are also automatically subscribed to email notifications when they sign up for the service.

As of mid-2008, about half of the University population had signed up for the notification service. Since community members receive messages on their personal devices, the university does not require participation. Having begun the program in mid-2007, the school continues to raise awareness and encourage participation.

Since installation in August 2007, the university has been on a mission to sign up all students, faculty, and staff for the service. Administrators promote the service in orientation, and they expect numbers to continue to rise from 17,000 current users. Parents come with their child to orientation, and they will recognize the importance of the service and they will see that they sign up, said Jinx Walton, Director of Computing Services and Systems Development at the University of Pittsburgh. There has not been one day since installation that we havent had at least two people sign up. After the first bomb threat we had 1,500 sign up the next day.  This illustrates that the most significant challenge to signing up the entire University community is making individuals aware of the benefits of the service along with the reassurance that they wont receive unwanted messages.